Markus reaches the other side of the corridor with the flashlights already off. He makes a straight line for the cavern exit leading to the forest he saw earlier. As he walks, he glances up to the skylights and sees night already approaching. Whatever plan he was going to follow needs to be done soon.

There is another glance to the area where he last left the spider and bat-woman. He sees the spider still very much dead, but the bat-woman is now missing. Markus looks toward the stone structure at the end of the cavern and notices some lighting from the windows. It seems she was feeling well enough to walk again.

Markus reaches the cavern exit, and now stands before a sea of green. The view makes him believe the cavern is tucked against the side of a mountain or hill. Even though he has a higher vantage point, all he can see is the forest. Night is starting to descend quickly, but Markus can now see lights and smoke slowly appearing through the leaves and branches. The lights and smoke seem to be at the 10 o'clock position from the exit opening. His spirits begin to lift as they remind him of how a town or village would look like during nighttime.

The next move will need to be carefully planned. Markus walks over to the right side of the cavern exit and leans his rifle against the rock. His right hand was becoming sore from holding the weapon by itself. He lays the backpack in front of his feet to put away the large flashlight. He also takes time to pull out a sling for his rifle that he brought along. When the flashlight is put away and the sling equipped on his rifle, Markus leans back against the rock, knowing he needs to quickly decide what to do next.

An idea comes to him as he rest against the rock. Markus reaches into the left front pocket of his cargo pants, pulling out his black smartphone. Pressing buttons and entering a password, the screen unlocks for him. Right away he sees there is no signal and worse yet, the battery is drained down to low capacity. Markus tries calling Dan anyway, but as expected the call reaches nowhere. Several more numbers are called, and each one fails. He checks the time as he puts the phone away only to see 1:30 PM on the screen. That clearly wasn't right.

In his head, Markus now begins to go over the various options presented. Option one is to go back to the portal room and see if he can repair the gateway. Help might also arrive from Dan during that time. However, numerous problems exist with the idea. Markus wouldn't know how to repair the portal, and of course, the possibility of more giant spiders. Option one is quickly thrown out.

Option two would be going to the stone structure of Miss Bat. He could stay with her and try to somehow communicate his predicament to her. Although it seems like a good idea, Markus knows he would be taking a gamble with her. The bat-woman was hostile to him earlier. He's seen the distrust and fear of him. At the very least, she's armed with a dagger and explosives. Markus worries that even if he stayed in a different location in the cavern, she might attack him in his sleep or discover his equipment stolen. Giant spiders may also still appear in the area. Option two was not looking promising, but it was still viable.

Markus then turns his head to forest and now thinks about option three. He looks at the lights in the distance and estimates a few hours walk to their location. It would definitely be nighttime by the time he makes it. He would also be walking through an unknown forest.

However, Markus is an experienced outdoors man and avid shooter. He would be heavily armed during this hike. If the lights and smoke are indeed a town, it would be the quickest path to help. Support could even be sent to Miss Bat too. Markus easily makes up his mind, and prepares to set out into the forest.

There isn't enough time to do a thorough check on all of the equipment and items before setting off. Markus and Dan were so excited when they discovered the portal, they had rushed to stuff the backpack and his cargo pants with various supplies. Even Markus wasn't completely sure of everything brought along with him. However, he was absolutely going to check his weapons. They're going to be his best chance of survival.

His right hand moves to the holstered pistol on the vest and undoes the strap holding it secure. The weapon is taken out in a single motion. Nothing wrong can be seen on the handgun and Markus presses a small button on the pistol grip to unload the magazine. He pulls the magazine out to glance at the ammo loaded within. Everything is in order and the magazine is placed back into the pistol. The handgun was not previously armed, so he takes his left hand to rack the pistol slide. Now a bullet was ready for whatever he may face.

Markus takes a little extra time to look over his semi-automatic sidearm, his eyes reading the engravings. On the left side the wording “STEYR M9” can be seen. An inexpensive weapon with a capacity of sixteen 9mm rounds and interesting trapezoid design for the sights. Markus stops himself from reminiscing and places the sidearm back into the holster on the vest.

After securing the pistol, his right hand starts padding the area above the holster. Markus feels the three individual pistol magazine pouches with his fingers to make sure they're also secure. He had brought three additional fifteen round magazines, one stuffed into each pouch. Everything feels correct and now turns his attention to the assault rifle leaning next to him.

Markus once again picks up his Kalashnikov rifle with his right hand. His left hand reaches for the right belly side of the vest. That area held three individual magazine pouches carrying the additional ammo for the rifle. Each pouch holds two fully loaded thirty-round steel magazines for a total of six. Markus opens up the outer most pouch and grabs one of the loaded magazines.

“Thank god I didn't run into anything else.” Markus says under his breath. After fighting the giant spider he knows the rifle was never reloaded. He simply assumed he was going straight home.

Markus now turns the rifle upward and swaps out the empty magazine with the loaded one. After securing the empty magazine in his vest, Markus turns the gun to grab the charging handle with his left hand, pulling it back to load a round. He releases the handle and completes the reload process.

Markus looks over his rifle knowing full well it saved his life earlier. He closely looks over the semi-automatic AMD-65 he's owned for many years. A close combat variant of the AKM rifle design, but very old compared to modern military firearms. It's an extremely powerful, highly mobile, and very loud assault rifle that can light up the night sky.

Over the years, Markus has made numerous modifications to his rifle. The wire stock now has a cheek riser attachment to help with aiming. The original pistol grips were replaced with more comfortable styles. Even the sling attachment on the wire stock was added. A scope would've been the last addition had he saved the money.

After gathering his thoughts, Markus looks toward the stone building. “I hope Miss Bat will be alright.” He says to himself, wondering if the bat-woman will be safe. “Maybe I can come back with help.”

Markus loads the backpack onto his shoulders, leaning the rifle back against the rock for a moment. Looking out toward the forest, he sees the last bit of daylight slipping through the leaves. Markus suddenly remembers a black sharpie pen in one of his pockets. He digs around a bit to find it, and once found, looks for a place on the rock wall to write a message. A flat spot at eye level looks perfect and he begins writing a message with his right hand.

<-------- SEARCHING FOR A WAY HOME. CHECK TOWN. – MARKUS WINTERS

It's a simple and direct message with an arrow pointing the way. He hopes if anybody comes looking for him they can find it easily. Markus puts the sharpie back, flips on his vest flashlight, and grabs his rifle with both hands. The last rays of light are gone, and he now stands at the edge of a darkened forest. Markus closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Strengthening his spirit, he once more steps into the unknown.